When people hear the name “Evans Woollen,” I suspect many think of his high-profile Brutalist structures – like Clowes Hall, Barton Towers or the Minton-Capehart Federal Building. But did you know Woollen started his career designing mid-century modern residences all over Indiana? After studying architecture on the east coast with Philip Johnson, Woollen established his […]
In celebration of Design Month, we are sharing stories from our Collections centering on Mid-Century Modern design in Central Indiana. First up, a little discussed facet of the story of the building that started Columbus’ association with modern architecture, First Christian Church. Although the names J. Irwin and Xenia Miller are synonymous in Columbus with […]
“Here’s the church, and here’s the steeple, open the door and see all the people.” This children’s nursery rhyme really gets at the heart of what church is all about: community. And that’s what I have experienced while working with Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church members, their historic church records collection at the Indiana Historical […]
The IHS library holds an impressive collection of materials relating to railroads and trains. In last month’s blog post, I confessed to knowing very little about cooking. Turns out, I know even less about railroads and trains. I am, however, slowly learning bits and pieces as I carry out my cataloging duties. I have never […]
I begin this month’s blog post with a confession: I am not a very talented cook. In fact, I am not much of a cook at all. Even the most basic tasks, such as boiling eggs or cooking pasta, sometimes leave me a bundle of nerves. However, I thoroughly enjoy cataloging old cookbooks at work. […]
25 individuals with an age range of 43 to 100 years 1,947 minutes of audio 3,935 miles traveled 1,200 pages of transcripts 100 years of documented history into a 188-year-old collection In the fall of 2016, I started traveling around the state for the Latino Collecting Initiative. I talked to 25 pioneering individuals who sat […]
I recently returned to work after surgery, a brief hospital stay and many weeks’ worth of recovery. When I resumed cataloging duties at the end of June, I came across a brochure given to patients staying at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis during the late 1940s. Coincidence? Perhaps. Regardless, it offers a fascinating glimpse into patient […]
Canines have been part of the human experience for quite some time now. They are among the first animals to be domesticated, though there are conflicting ideas about when, where and how this happened. Studies range in time from 10,000 to 30,000 years ago and in location from East Asia to the Middle East to […]
Every summer I can’t help but pour over every image from the William F. Gingrich Lantern Slide collection. These 1920s images in the Dunes area of northern Indiana scream lakeside vacation and look idyllic, even magical. It turns out that lantern slides were popular ways to teach and were a form of entertainment called Magic […]
Among local historians in Indianapolis, there’s one building that is discussed with more consistent fascination than almost any other. It’s not the State Capitol Building, Union Station or the Athanaeum. It’s the two-story outhouse that once stood in a backyard on Agnes Street, now University Avenue. In 1940, photographer Larry Foster photographed the outhouse, and […]
